11-11-09 : The Blood Bond Saga (part 36)

Shooting out the Captain and farewell to Deva...

'Shooting out' an actor isn't as violent as it sounds (though I have occasionally wished that it was...). Basically, it means ensuring that we've shot all the necessary footage of a performer so that they can be released to go and work on another project they have scheduled.

Today, we have to 'shoot out' the great Lin Dong-fu, who plays Captain Trayng, and our best-laid plans are waylaid by torrential rain. Our first 'last' scene with him is one where, at the end of the movie, he accompanies Tremayne (Michael Biehn) down a corridor into a hospital ICU unit.

This length of passage has its own story to tell. Michael was adamant that we had to have the corridor lead off from the ICU in that specific direction. Unfortunately, there was the studio wall in the way. I finally hit upon the idea of bashing a hole in the wall and building the requisite passageway out until we hit the studio building opposite. (This kind of lateral thinking is what separates us brilliant producers from run-of-the-mill ones...)

Just as we're ready to shoot in our made-to-order corridor, the skies open and the deluge begins. The makeshift passage, being outside of the studio itself, is immediately flooded, and we have to make a hurried decision to shoot something else first.

In the film, Captain Trayng is shot down by our 'evil nurse' (played by Fundamental Films' mainstay Lily Xue), so action director Ken Yip has to walk her through the sequence.

Prior to that (but shot later), the Captain is pinned down by gunfire, and so our resident pyro maniac, Sifu Li, has created an effect of masonry exploding in all directions. A complicated shot, and something that can't (safely) be rushed.

Time is running out, as Lin has a 'plane to catch, to Shanghai, en route to returning to shoot a TV series at Hengdian Studios. And there's the rain to worry about, which may delay his journey.

As ever, we get through with our usual camraderie!

After Lin says his good-byes, we move on to prepare the scene where Deva (Phoenix Chou) says a final farewell to John Tremayne. MB is exhausted. You wanna direct it?, he asks.

Of course, I agree, and then do what every smart producer would do in these circumstances: ask the DP how we can shoot it...

The scene is a key one, as it resolves the relationship between Deva and Tremayne that is at the heart of the story. I'm glad we're shooting it now, in the home stretch of the movie. In front of our eyes, Phoenix has become fully realised as an actress, and her choices here are a wonder to behold.

The saddest thing about creating characters is saying good-bye to them. This will be the last scene in the film for Deva, and I feel a real sense of loss. I've known this girl for 20 years...

Ross comes through, as ever. Tremayne's hospital gurney is wheeled away, and Phoe gets a shot worthy of Ava Gardner in her heyday.

Next: The barroom brawl